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Keeling named to All-Big South Freshman Team and earns Honorable Mention All-Conference

Feb 27, 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charleston Southern guard Christian Keeling has been named to the Big South Conference All-Freshman Team, the league office announced on Monday. Keeling finished as runner-up for Big South Freshman of the Year and also earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors.

Keeling garnered four first-place votes and 103 total points in the Freshman of the Year balloting, conducted by a panel of the Big South's head coaches and media members. UNC Asheville's MaCio Teague, with 21 first-place votes and 119 total points, earned the honor.

Keeling's 490 points are the most by a freshman in CSU history. The Augusta, Ga., product is currently the seventh leading freshman scorer in all of Division I. He finished the regular season leading all Big South freshmen in scoring (16.9 PPG – 4th overall) and rebounding (6.8 – 6th). Keeling is the only freshman in the entire country to lead his team in both scoring and rebounding, pace all league freshmen in those categories and rank top-ten league-wide in each. With ten more points, Keeling will become the sixth freshman in the Big South's 33-year history to score 500 points.

CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh remarked on a freshman season that arguably ranks as the best in program history.

"I'm very thankful that our league has recognized Christian as one of the elite players in our league," Radebaugh said. "When we recruited Christian out of Augusta, we knew that he was special. We knew that he had a chance to have a great career here. He's exceeded my expectations."

Keeling was named Big South Freshman of the Week seven times, including the final two weeks of the regular season. The seven honors are the most by any Big South freshman in at least the last 13 years. He recorded nine 20-point games and four double-doubles. Keeling is the ninth player in Radebaugh's tenure to receive All-Freshman Team accolades.

"We've had some really good freshman here who have played a lot of minutes, guys who had amazing freshman seasons, and Christian has topped all of those," Radebaugh said. "In my book, he's freshman of the year but I only get one vote. MaCio's an amazing freshman also and I'm thankful that he's in our league and that we have two elite freshman like Christian and MaCio in our conference."

"Most importantly, Christian has had a great year growing as a man," Radebaugh continued. "How he's grown on the court has been incredible and how he's grown off the court has been just as incredible. He's a wonderful student and a wonderful representative of CSU."

Senior guard Patrick Wallace was CSU's other all-conference honoree. Wallace, a Communications Studies major with a 3.32 GPA, earned a spot on the All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year.

All of the Big South Men's Basketball All-Conference honorees are listed below.